A reader’s comment, lightly edited, on the story about Sarah Palin endorsing the Walker-Mallott ticket:

Well, the mood is bad around the homestead this evening, Wife insists it’s time for her to move back to the East Coast. Claims that between having no real Democrat on the ticket for governor and now this thing with Palin endorsing the quasi Democrat, it’s the last straw. Says she misses the East Coast. Says back there the Democrats are ‘Liberals’ not ‘Progressives’ and that besides that they are loyal to the party.

For my part, I told her she should be happy… We been hitched near on 20 years, never missed an election and this’ll be the first time we voted the same ticket. (I’ll admit I’m a bit shocked as well.)

Here’s an ad that began running state wide today featuring First Lady Sandy Parnell, coming to the defense of her husband on the National Guard scandal. I can’t say for sure that I’ve seen all the ads playing in the governor’s race, but this is the most effective one that I have seen. If anything will work to ensure Alaskans that the governor is taking this issue seriously, it’s more ads like this, talking directly to Alaskans, and more of Mrs. Parnell, who has kept herself out of the spotlight during her husband’s tenure. (I sat down recently with Mrs. Parnell. Expect a story on that soon.) Watch here:

http://youtu.be/1V8Adak5TL4

From Craigslist’s “Missed Connections” section:

“Have some garbage,” said every candidate. #akelect pic.twitter.com/ljhF5OksCf

— Kyle Hopkins (@kylehopkinsAK) October 17, 2014

David Holtouse from the Anchorage Press has another must read on the National Guard scandal. This piece, like the last, is culled from investigative reports that were leaked to the Press. It focuses on three National Guard recruiters and “sexual assaults and numerous cases of sexual harassment targeting fellow soldiers, new recruits, and civilian women, including high school JROTC cadets,” perpetrated by the three between 2007 to 2011. The investigation of the three began in mid-2012. According to the article, “leadership” requested the investigation. The reports on the activity of the three were submitted to the Guard in 2013. The three are no longer recruiters. And though the article says that they weren’t arrested or charged, it doesn’t say why. Nor does it say when they were let go, or how they were discharged, if they were.

In any event, the accounts of rape and sexual abuse are repulsive.

“These three recruiters were seemingly untouchable and attempts to report their misconduct were either ignored or resulted in negative repercussions for the recruiter reporting the misconduct,” the Press quotes the investigative report as saying.

Read the must-read story here.

Updated: The video is no longer available on YouTube, which removed it due to a copyright claim by the Charlie Daniels Band, or CDB, informally. 

For those of you who were disappointed that the last version was truncated, be disappointed no more. Here’s the rest of the song. As for me, I’m still waiting for the counter: Maybe a take-off of Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot?”
http://youtu.be/ki1InqQ5Sio

The Women’s Summit is right around the corner, Oct. 16 and 17. From the description:

Join us for a two day summit focused on creating a better future for all Alaskan women. We’re calling on Alaska’s brightest women to come together to work on finding answers to the toughest questions facing Alaskan women and families. This year’s summit will be focused on building communities of change, self-advocacy and the glass ceiling, and how empowerment and mentorship are such vital tools in developing young women. Register Now >>>

#Alaska same-sex couples wait at Bureau of Vital Statistics to seek marriage licenses: http://t.co/ucDgiKfSdv #ktuu pic.twitter.com/ddgELp8Dja

— KTUU.com (@Ch2KTUU) October 13, 2014

This is a screen shot of Korey Klingenmeyer’s statement to the Anchorage Police Department regarding the infamous Palin family brawl:

I apologize to those who have tried to comment recently and don’t see their comments on the site. The spam filter has been overactive. I checked that folder today and was surprised by all the comments that were in there. Some of them were really good too, particularly on the fisheries debate. It’s too bad, because I love reading the comments on this site.  Anyway, just wanted you all to know that I’m not trying to silence your voices–unless you write crude and crass things, and still sometimes if the comments are smart, or they make me laugh, I let those slide.

According to press release, here is a list of prominent Republicans who have committed to supporting gubernatorial “unity” ticket candidate Bill Walker:

• Former First Lady Bella Hammond
• Former First Lady Ermalee Hickel
• Former Alaska State Senate President Clem Tillion
• Former Alaska State Senate President Rick Halford
• Former Alaska State Senator Arilss Sturgulewski
• Former Alaska State Senator Linda Menard
• Former Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whittaker
• Former Anchorage Assemblyman Dan Kendall
• Former Alaska Attorney General Charlie Cole
• Former Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Harold Heinze
• Former Providence Health & Services Chief Executive Officer Al Parrish
• Former Wally Hickel Ketchikan Campaign Manager Ann Graham Radford
• Former Alaska Republican Party Chair Debbie Brown

Someone should tell the DSCC that if you’re going to run a commercial attacking Senate candidate Dan Sullivan on women’s health issues, this is how it should be done, courtesy of the pro-Begich super-PAC Put Alaska First:

From a New York Times piece on the best places to live in the next decades as climate change begins to take a greater toll:

“If you do not like it hot and do not want to be hit by a hurricane, the options of where to go are very limited,” said Camilo Mora, a geography professor at the University of Hawaii and lead author of a paper published in Nature last year predicting that unprecedented high temperatures will become the norm worldwide by 2047. “The best place really is Alaska,” he added. “Alaska is going to be the next Florida by the end of the century.”